First Day In Stars Hollow

Liz dropped me off at the bus station early Sunday morning, like promised. It wasn't hard to leave knowing that she'd be in rehab. At least this way I didn't have to worry about her choking on her own vomit or something else along those lines. But then again there was always the fear that Liz would stop going to rehab, I knew that it was hard for her to commit to anything, yet I really hoped she'd get through this… she needed this.

The bus pulled into Stars Hollow and my first piece of business was going to be finding a computer repair shop, and my second piece of work was to find a computer. Someone in this town must have one, though it didn't look hopeful. From the looks of it, this town hasn't even hit the technological era. The town looked straight out of a fairytale. I briefly wondered if they have a town princess.

The bus pulled up and I got off, ready to meet my uncle for the first time. If Liz is anything to go by then my hopes aren't very high, but then again he does choose to live here for some bizarre reason.

"Jess?" A man dressed in flannel and baseball, correction, backwards baseball cap, greeted me. I'm guessing this is Luke, or Luke's servant.

"Luke?" I questioned.

"Yeah," He replied.

"Huh," I said as I followed him through the town.

"So how's Liz?" Luke asked me.

"Fine," I responded.

"Good, that's good," Luke said nervously. "So this is the town, I know that it's not much… but it has your essentials. This is my diner," Luke said as we walked inside.

"Huh," I responded.

"It belonged to your grandpa," Luke explained.

"Huh," I said and Luke led me behind a curtain and up some stairs.

"Well, here we are," Luke said as we entered some kind of apartment, though it did look suspiciously like an office, the sign on the door kind of tipped me off. "It's pretty simple. You know, this is the room. That's my bed, that's your, uh, bed for now, but the sheets are new. There's the bathroom, there's the closet, there's the dresser, the phone, and over there is the kitchen. I've got Frosted Flakes."

"Wow, that's great," I replied sarcastically as I dumped my belongings onto my bed.

"So, is that all your stuff?" Luke asked me.

"Yup," I replied.

"Not much there," Luke said.

"It's the important stuff," I explained.

"You need some help?" Luke asked.

"Nope," I answered as I grabbed a book out of my bag, which conveniently had the laptop's make and model number on it.

"Okay, uh, I have to get back to the diner," Luke said, still nervous. "I'm gonna close up at ten tonight, so I thought…"

"See you at ten," I responded as I headed for the door.

"But wait," Luke said quickly. "You need keys."

"No, I don't," I answered as I walked out the door and practically flew out of the diner. I wanted to get out of there and find some kind of repair shop.

Luke didn't seem half bad. He was nervous as hell, but so would I if someone just pawned their kid off on me. At least his apartment was decent… it didn't remind me of this godforsaken town, it was normal, and I craved normality in my life.

I glanced across the street and was confused as to why I was looking at Luke's diner. There's no way I just circled the entire town. Yep, I did. Damn so much for a computer repair shop. I walked back into the diner, if I wanted any information about computer repairs or at least someone who owned a computer I'd probably have to talk to my uncle Luke.

"You're back quick," Luke said.

"Yeah."

"Did you just figure out that you make three left turns and you're back to where you started from?" Luke asked.

"Pretty much," I replied.

"Take a seat," Luke said and I sat down at the counter. "You want anything to eat?"

"No."

"Really?" Luke asked. "I can make you anything that you want."

"I have no money," I told him and Luke let out a laugh. "What?" I asked him confused.

"You live with me now, Jess," Luke explained. "I'm your legal guardian which means I have to provide for you." I looked at him strangely. This was all new for me. At Liz's it was fend for yourself Jess, while I drink away your nonexistent college fund. "You know," Luke continued, "that includes food, clothes, school supplies… anything you want or need, well within reason."

"Well then," I said. "Do you have any apple pie?"

"Sure," Luke said as he gives me a slice.

"Thanks," I replied, taking a bite. I was starving. Getting regular meals was something I'd definitely have to get used to.

"So how do you like the town?" Luke asked me.

"Honestly?" I asked him and he nodded his head. "It could do with a few more shops not devoted solely to cats and unicorns."

"I hear you," Luke said as he smiled. "Welcome to the only sane place in this town, the diner."

"Luke?" I asked him nervously. "Do you know anything about computers?"

"No," Luke said confused. "Why?"

"No reason," I replied. "Do you know of anyone who does?"

"No one that I can think of," Luke said. "You're probably going to want to talk to Miss Patty, she knows everything that's going on in this town."

"Thank you," I said. "So do you know anyone who has a computer… that they would maybe let me use?"

"Umm," Luke said, thinking about it. "Rory's got one, she got it for her sixteenth birthday, she's pretty…"

"Too much information," I cut Luke off. "Do you know where I can find her… It's really important that I get a hold of a computer."

"She should be…" Luke said, but is cut off by a customer.

"Hey," she said to Luke.

"Hey," Luke responded as she took a seat next to me at the counter.

"So?" she asked.

"So what?" Luke said confused.

"Is he here?" she asked overly excited.

"He's here," Luke responded.

"Yeah?" she said. "How is he?"

"He's fine," Luke answered.

"Well, where is here?" she asked Luke. "I want to meet him."

"Right there," Luke said motioning towards me. "Jess, I'd like you to meet Lorelai Gilmore."

"Hey," she said. "Hi, I'm Lorelai, well you already know that. I just wanted to meet you before Luke had a chance to fill your head with all kinds of little lies about me."

"Hi," I said before turning my attention back to my pie.

"So you like pie?" Lorelai asked me.

"He's not very talkative," Luke told her. "He's still adjusting."

"Okay," Lorelai responded. "Well, Jess, you can come to me for anything."

"Actually," Luke said. "We were just discussing Rory."

"My daughter Rory?" Lorelai mocked.

"No," Luke answered. "The other Rory, yes your daughter. Anyway, Jess needs to use a computer for some reason and I told him that Rory might be able to help him out."

"Sure," Lorelai replied and I looked up at her. I better at least be polite to her if it grants me access to a computer.

"Really?" I asked her happily.

"Sure," Lorelai replied. "You'll have to ask Rory, but I'm sure she won't mind."

"Thanks," I said.

"Would you mind showing him?" Luke asked as he handed Lorelai a to-go cup of coffee. "I would, but I'm working."

"Its fine," Lorelai said as she grabbed her coffee. "You ready yet, Jess?"

"Sure," I replied as I stand up, eager to get my hands on a computer.

The first part of the trip to Lorelai's house was silent. I didn't really know what to make of Lorelai. She seemed nice, yet slightly crazy. She also seemed to like Luke, or maybe it was the other way around, Luke definitely liked her, but she was flirting with him nonetheless.

"So, Jess," Lorelai said, breaking me out of my thoughts. "You lived in New York?"

"Yeah."

"And how was that?" Lorelai asked me.

"It had its moments," I replied.

"Why do you need to use a computer?" Lorelai asked.

"No reason," I responded.

"There must be a reason," Lorelai pried.

"Just drop it," I retorted bitterly.

"What?" Lorelai asked confused with a hint of hurt in her voice.

"Sorry," I said. "It's just personal, okay?"

"Okay," Lorelai said, and I could tell she was still hurting, hell, in the time since I've met her I don't think she's said any less than five words in a sentence.

"I… I'm screwed up," I told her. "I'm not always going to say or do the right thing, but I'm trying… and I can't thank you enough for letting me use your computer."

"It's alright," Lorelai said, her mood brightening. "And it's Rory's computer, so it's only if she lets you… And you won't use it if she's doing schoolwork, understand?"

"I understand," I replied as we walk up the steps and into her house.

"Rory," Lorelai called out.

"In my room," Rory responded.

"Right this way," Lorelai said as she led me into the house. "Rory," Lorelai said from the doorway. She turns around. "This is Luke's nephew Jess."

"Oh, hi," Rory said as she quickly closes down the window that's on her computer, I didn't think anything of it.

"Hi," I responded, taking a step into her room.

"Jess here has a favor to ask you," Lorelai said and I rolled my eyes at her subtle push.

"Really?" Rory asked nervously.

"I was wondering if I could use your computer," I asked her quickly.

"Sure," Rory replied as she got up from the chair. "Go ahead."

"Okay," Lorelai said. "I'm heading to the Inn, Rory, behave yourself."

"Sure," Rory scoffed. "Just leave."

"Leaving," Lorelai said and a few second later I heard the front door open and close.

"Have a seat," Rory said to me and I sat down at her computer.

"Umm," I said to her because she was looking over my shoulder. "Do you mind? …It's kind of personal?"

"It's not… it's not porn is it?" this young innocent girl asked me.

"No," I responded quickly. "Nothing like that."

"Well, okay," Rory said, sitting down on her bed, facing away from me.

I notice she has Mozilla Firefox open, so I use Internet Explorer. I'd only used Internet Explorer before and I didn't want to stuff anything up on her. I logged in quickly and noticed my angel's name wasn't there.

"Damn," I muttered.

"What?" Rory asked, not turning around.

"Nothing," I replied.

"I could probably help you if I knew what you were doing," Rory said to me.

"No, its fine," I replied. "Just give me five more minutes."

"So," Rory asked. "Do you read?"

"Not much," I answered as I scrolled through the list. "But I see that you do?" I said. I saw her book collection when I walked into her room.

"Yeah," Rory said nervously.

"What are you currently reading?" I asked her.

"Oh, it doesn't matter," she said. "You'd probably be bored."

"Well it's better than just sitting here in an uncomfortable silence," I said to her.

"Okay," she smiled, "I'm reading Oliver Twist at the moment."

"Oliver Twist," I mused. "Have you read it before?"

"Yeah," Rory replied. "Many times, I could probably recite it. Have you read it before… maybe for school or something?"

"It's about an orphaned boy, right?" I asked her. Although my angel referred to me as Dodger, I could've easily been Oliver. There have definitely been times in my life when I've asked for more, but luckily I did learn from my mistakes… Although I never did get the perfect family like Oliver did.

"Jess?" Rory said, her back still turned to me.

"Huh," I responded.

"You spaced out for a minute there," Rory said.

"Oh," I said as I scrolled through the list again. My angel still wasn't there. She should be on… why isn't she on?

I logged out quickly and cleared the history, so Rory or her parents couldn't see where I'd been.

"You're finished?" Rory asked as I stood up from the computer. "Did you do what you wanted?"

"No," I said sadly as I headed to the door.

"I'm sorry," Rory said sincerely.

"Thanks," I responded as I spy her copy of Howl near the door. I picked it up swiftly and left.

"Jess do you want…" I heard Rory say behind me, but I was already gone.

I walked around the town aimlessly until I came across an old bridge. I stopped in the middle and sat down. I looked at Rory's copy of Howl in my hands. My angel had this book, Oliver Twist too. Damn it. I wish she'd been online, I wish I was sitting here with her rather than by myself, but most of all I wished I could read to her. I have both books on me, now would've been the most perfect moment with the bridge, the water… everything. I closed my eyes, maybe if I wished really hard it would come true.

"Jess?" I heard someone ask.

I opened my eyes and whipped my head around to face them.

"Rory," I replied disappointed. Damn, it wasn't my angel, it was a long shot anyway; wishes never come true. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "I'd rather be alone."

"Can I join you?" Rory said, mirroring my sadness. "Please… Misery does love company after all."